G. Lawrence Atkins

G. Lawrence Atkins serves as a senior advisor for TD&P Consulting, Inc. Atkins is the president of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). While working as a social security and retirement income policy expert on the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and as a technical adviser to Senator John Heinz (R-PA) on the 1983 National Commission on Social Security Reform, he was invited to join NASI as a founding member. NASI’s founder, Robert M. Ball, served on the Social Security Reform Commission with Senator Heinz, and both Senator Heinz and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) were active in creating NASI (including sponsorship of an unsuccessful resolution to give NASI a Congressional charter).

​ Atkins recently retired from his position as executive director, U.S. Public Policy at Merck & Company, where he directed the pharmaceutical company’s public policy and legislative strategy development, covering federal, state and local public policy issues. Before his time at Merck, he held numerous roles in health and retirement income policy in Washington, D.C. He was executive director, public policy and reimbursement at Schering-Plough Corporation, was founder and president of Health Policy Analysts, a consulting firm to Fortune 500 companies, and was executive director of the Corporate Health Care Coalition. He also headed a health and employee benefits policy practice in the D.C. office of the New York law firm Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts.

​ Over the years, Atkins has authored numerous publications, chapters and journal articles on aging, retirement income and employee benefit topics. He also served as a member of the 1991 Social Security Advisory Commission (the “Steelman Commission”), the Technical Panel to the 1995 Social Security Advisory Commission, and most recently on NASI’s Study Panel on Health Insurance Exchanges.

​ Atkins majored in history at Kenyon College, holds master’s degrees in education from the University of Kentucky and in community development from the University of Louisville. He also holds a Ph.D. from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, where he currently serves on the Board of Overseers.